The second pilot training session on “Rights of victims and injured parties” took place on 5 and 6 December 2022 in Zagreb. In total 20 participants, judges and prosecutors, from all over Croatia attended the training which was presented by two tutors, Ms Natalija Slavica, Deputy State Prosecutor seconded to the General State Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Croatia, and Ms Ana Krmek, Advisor, Croatian Representative before the European Court of Human Rights. The training was designed to provide information and expertise on the relevant national frameworks alongside European human rights standards, addressing such practical topics as the assessment of victims needs, and support systems for victims and witnesses. A particular focus was given to the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, domestic case-law and legislation, and the relevant legal framework of the Council of Europe and the European Union. The valuable exchange of experiences among the participants and the practices and examples of case-laws that were thoroughly presented and discussed were highlighted as very beneficial by everyone participating.

This is the second training session in the training program developed under the Project in consultation with the project partners – the Judicial Academy of Croatia and the Office of the Representative of the Republic of Croatia before the European Court of Human Rights. The training programme is based on the recommendations from the Training Needs Assessment and takes into account the interests of target groups (criminal, civil, and administrative law practitioners), the availability of respective materials and HELP courses adapted for Croatia, and the recommendations of CoE monitoring bodies. The majority of pilot trainings will be implemented in a face-to-face format, however online trainings and existing e-learning tools as well as a new Moodle platform will be used to support the training implementation, and strengthen the participants digital learning experience.

The Project “Promotion of the rule of law and fundamental rights through high-quality online trainings in the Croatian Judiciary” implemented by the Council of Europe (CoE) in cooperation with the European Commission DG REFORM is aimed at providing support to the Judicial Academy of Croatia to improve the methodology, tools and expertise to design and deliver high-quality training. The Croatian judiciary should be strengthened through development of remotely accessible training resources, and specifically through training focusing on the existing standards in the field of human rights protection and the rule of law, and their practical application.

The Project “Promotion of the rule of law and fundamental rights through high-quality online trainings in the Croatian Judiciary” is co-funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the European Commission, the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM).